Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

espanso VS Fantastical 2

Compare espanso VS Fantastical 2 and see what are their differences

espanso logo espanso

An Open Source, Cross-platform Text Expander on steroids

Fantastical 2 logo Fantastical 2

Fantastical, the Mac calendar app you'll enjoy using. Quickly create new events with natural language input and more.
  • espanso Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-25
  • Fantastical 2 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-20

espanso videos

Complilation CD x CD32 Espanso, AMiGA 1200 Espanso e AMiGA 4000

More videos:

  • Review - Sfatiamo i miti riguardanti l'universo espanso (EU) di Star Wars!

Fantastical 2 videos

Friday 5: Fantastical 2 - my favorite Mac calendar app!

More videos:

  • Review - Fantastical 2 Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to espanso and Fantastical 2)
Writing Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Calendar
0 0%
100% 100
Automation
100 100%
0% 0
Appointments and Scheduling

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare espanso and Fantastical 2

espanso Reviews

  1. SO much better than PhraseExpress!

    This setup is a little more hands on to install and setup, but it is worth it. No weird glitches, crashing or other issues, it just a simple system works as it should.

    It doesn't have all the same features as PhraseExpress, but if you are like me and just want a text expander, they are features you will never need or use anyway.

    The setup instructions are clear and concise. They do take a minute to get your head around compared to other software installs that I am used to, but as the instructions are on point, it is not difficult.

    I am using this on macOS and will be trying it on Windows soon too.

    🏁 Competitors: PhraseExpress
    👍 Pros:    Works perfectly|Cost effective|Great, clear setup instructions
    👎 Cons:    Requries some more setup beyond the usual 'double click' and done

Fantastical 2 Reviews

The 13 best calendar apps for Android and iOS help you organize a chaotic day
Many of the app’s features are standard fare and just what you’d expect a calendar app to offer, but Fantastical 2 strives to make every process more convenient in order to save time. For example, you can start a sentence with “reminder,” “to do,” or “task” to create reminders, or use phrases like “remind me tomorrow at 3PM,” or “alarm 3PM” to set new alerts. You can also...
Beyond Google Calendar and Apple Calendar: The 18 Best Apps to Manage Your Schedule
While it's nice to have the mobile app, Fantastical 2 is at its best on desktop. The app is colorful without being gaudy or overwhelming, and it's easy to use without sacrificing control over your event details. On a Mac, the menu bar app lets you quickly add an event or see what's on your agenda in the coming days. Adding details to your events—such as notes, URLs,...
Source: zapier.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, espanso should be more popular than Fantastical 2. It has been mentiond 96 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

espanso mentions (96)

  • You don't have to type faster to type faster
    If you want a standalone cross platform text expander I currently enjoy using Espanso[1] [1]: https://espanso.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Add-on that makes it possible to paste one sentence?
    This should work for you. Free, cross-platform and works everywhere not just the browser. https://espanso.org/. Source: 7 months ago
  • Bad Emacs Defaults
    Huh, didn't know abbrev had that limitation (wonder why?). Gave it a go in espanso (https://espanso.org/), and it does work there. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Show HN: I automated 1/2 of my typing
    I use a tool called "Espanso" to accomplish something similar at work. It only runs locally, so no weird data scraping issues to worry about. And it's easy to update as things changes becauase everything lives in a simple yml file. https://espanso.org/ It can do simple text replacement, so I have words, phrases, and sentences I use frequently compressed into a few keyboard clicks. It can also grab what is in your... - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago
  • [DEV] Open source text expander - Bugs fixed, new updates, now available on IzzyOnDroid - might be worth trying again :D
    If you don't know what a text expander is, see: https://espanso.org. Source: 11 months ago
View more

Fantastical 2 mentions (27)

  • Ask HN: What macOS apps/programs do you use daily and recommend?
    - Raycast (https://www.raycast.com/) there's also a free version, I just prefer to support the author with a Pro purchase. - Homebrew (https://brew.sh/) - Visual Studio Code - SyncThing (https://syncthing.net/) - Fantastical (https://flexibits.com/fantastical) - MonitorControl (https://github.com/MonitorControl/MonitorControl#readme). - Source: Hacker News / 12 days ago
  • Calendar advice for home + work?
    I use an app called Fantastical (https://flexibits.com/fantastical). I believe it is macOS/iOS only, but there might be alternatives with work with other systems. Basically, I add in my work Office365 account and my personal iCloud and it shows everything together. Whenever I'm making an appointment, I just check that rather than my Outlook calendar. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Sick of Fastmails subpar iOS app
    Looks like most of your issues are with the calendar. For this I highly recommend an app dedicated to this, like Fantastical, BusyCal, Calendar366 or even a native ios calendar app. These apps have clients for ios, macos and even watchos. Lots of config options and nice features and timely notifications. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Productivity apps - recommendations needed
    I personally have been trying out Fantastical and it literally is life changing doing everything in a calendar. You can make a recurring event or something and have it notify you whenever you want. The time limit can be achieved by just creating the duration. Although I'm unsure about the "mark as done" functionality. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Todo app that syncs with calendar?
    Fantastical https://flexibits.com/fantastical. Source: over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing espanso and Fantastical 2, you can also consider the following products

Beeftext - Beeftext is an open-source text substitution tool for Windows.

Google Calendar - Spend less time managing your day & more time enjoying it

TextExpander - TextExpander: Communicate Smarter. Gather, Perfect, Share Your Knowledge. Recall your best words instantly, repeatedly.

Microsoft Outlook - Organize your world. Outlook’s email and calendar tools help you communicate, stay on top of what matters, and get things done.

PhraseExpress - PhraseExpress is one of the best and most fully featured text expansion apps available to Windows users.

Morgen.so - All-in-one Calendar, Tasks & Scheduler. Morgen is the single hub for everything that revolves around time management.